Being a writer, or better to say trying to be the one, I never stop learning and searching for the ways to improve. For example, taking advices from great authors. It's not a shame to learn from those who you admire and it doesn't mean you should lose your own individuality, no. You just can concentrate on a few of the most effective techniques used by a writer and get useful suggestions from them. That's how you strenghten your writing skills and develop your own style. I love many writers. One of them is Emily Brontë.
Here are some of her tips for dialogue writing:
1. Do not put words in the mouths of your characters. Let them talk as the please - and write down the parts of their talk that contribute your intentions as a writer.
2. Censor conversation that does not advance your story. A tape recording of actual talk wouldn't make a good dialogue in a book. It's wandering and pointless. A good writer records only those portions of talk that are significant in terms of his writing goals.
3. Do not give your speakers "individuality" by overloading them with speech mannerisms.
4. Never report more than two or three lines of dialogue without reflecting some sort of disagreement or tension between the speakers. The dialogue should be interesting to read. Where the tension is low the reader's interest is diminished. The readers are weared by boring talks.
Do you like Emily Brontë? Or who's your favorite writer?